The Last Step
by jalpari
Summary: Part eleven of a series of one shots that fill gaps in the canon. Set during season 4 - It's a Beifong reunion and the last hurdle that Lin must tackle to truly be released of her past errors. With all her recent growth, and with a little help from her past memories with Tenzin, Lin picks up the last pieces of her heart. Linzin overtones.


The last step

By jalpari

Lin stood staring at Zaofu in the distance, angry at the destruction Kuvira had caused. Tenzin and the others were evacuating all the citizens of Republic City as Kuvira's attack was imminent. She heard a rustle in the bushes behind them. Much to her shock, it was Toph.

"Hey chief."

"Hey chief."

Opal and Bolin looked on awkwardly.

"So how long has it been since you two have seen each other?" Bolin asked no one in particular.

"Little while now", Toph answered. "Couple of years."

"Try 20." Lin grunted.

"Ah, time flies when you get to be my age. I'm surprised you came to save Su. I thought you guys didn't get along."

"Su and I finally worked out our old grievances."

"Good, glad we can put all that behind us."

Lin turned away facing the city again.

"Right. _We_."

On Bolin's suggestion, they waited till the next day when all the guards at the prison camp would be off watching Kuvira reveal the new secret weapon. As they sat around the campfire, Lin sat away, a permanent scowl plastered across her face. She had forgotten that there was still one last piece of her life that remained in turmoil. Suyin's presence had been enough, but now as she saw Toph in front of her, she wasn't sure what to do. Her thoughts were interrupted by Bolin's shocking question.

"Who's Lin's dad?"

"He was a guy names Kanto, nice guy. Didn't work out between us." Toph stated nonchalantly as if she was talking about a dish she had tried recently.

"Lin, I can feel your enraged breathing from here! Just say what you have to say, and let's get it over with."

"_Just get it over with?_ Yeah, let's not linger on the fact that I grew up without a dad. No need to get all touchy-feely about it. Just one of those things, right?"

"Hey, I forgave you for all your garbage a long time ago, and Su and I worked things out. You're the only one who wants to hold on to this family drama nonsense for the rest of your life."

Lin could feel her blood boil. She was filled with instant rage.

"Forgave me for _what_? And not knowing my dad is nonsense to you? It was pretty important to me. And until now, you would never even discuss it! You know, after Su and I patched things up, I thought, '_maybe I should try to reach out to mom_'. But now that we're together again, I remember why we stopped talking. You make me furious, and you don't even know why! And when I tell you, you don't care. Once we save Su, you and I are finished."

After a moment of silence, Toph spoke.

"If that's your decision and it makes you happy, then fine."

Lin turned around, seething with anger and hurt by her mother's lack of response to her outburst. She crossed her arms and spent most of the night awake and wishing Tenzin were here, calming her and mediating with Toph, like old times.

* * *

They spotted the suspended cage holding Suyin and the others hostage. Without a moment to lose, Lin swung herself onto the box, hiding from the guard. She began tossing everyone out to the ledge where Bolin stood. But before she could get Su out, they had been spotted and an alarm began to blare all around. As the cord that held the cage was cut, Suyin and Lin held on to her metal whip for dear life, swinging and landing right in front of Toph.

Suyin immediately hugged her mom as Lin watched silently. They made their way back up, emerging from the ground only to be told that Kuvira had Zhu Li. Bolin decides that they had to save her. Toph leaves them to fight and hold back Kuvira and makes her way back to the swamp.

Within minutes, they are under attack and heavily outnumbered as they hid behind a wall of rock on all sides, their only defense. Unexpectedly, as the Kuvira advanced and cornered them further, an attack came out of nowhere. It was Toph. She had returned.

"You give metalbenders a bad name!" Toph yelled at her in disgust.

They took advantage of this break, to escape on Juicy.

"Thanks for coming back, mom." Suyin smiled.

"Yeah, thanks, chief." Lin muttered visibly uncomfortable. "I'm sorry for what I said last night. I was just...you know."

"Look," Toph interrupted. "I know I wasn't a great mother, but one way or another, I ended up with two great kids."

"Good enough to risk my bony old butt for, anyway", she added with a grin. "If you can just find some way not to hate me, maybe that's enough, at least for me."

"Me too", Lin didn't hesitate.

This was the moment she had been waiting for, as she let go of all her bitterness and grudges. She couldn't help but think of Tenzin.

_He would have loved to see this. _She smirked in delight.

* * *

As they landed back in republic city, they joined the evacuation efforts. Lin moved Raiko to air temple island, guarding him. Korra had gone to try and stop Kuvira before the weapon reached the city, only to return with more bad news. The weapon was bigger and deadlier than they had expected and it seemed that Kuvira would attack sooner than they were prepared for.

It was hard to see Tenzin leave with the other airbenders to try and slow Kuvira down. Before he left, Tenzin had glanced at Lin with a reassuring smile. She was tempted to hug him, but something held her back. _Maybe it was time to stop. _This was as far she would let herself go.

She stayed on with Raiko with a heavy heart. The airbenders were outmatched against the weapon, she saw in horror as within minutes they were attacked by one enormous blast from Kuvira. Lin couldn't hold herself back any longer. She left the President's side and rushed to them, determined to bring them out of harm's way. When she found them, she heard Korra spurring them on, urging them to keep fighting.

"I agree." Lin said as she stood on a pile of rubble, her hands on her hips looking directly at Tenzin."

"Lin!"

"Glad to see you all made it out", she sighed in relief. "You had me worried."

The worst was yet to come, however. As they regrouped, they decided to involve Sato and along with Asami they put together a hummingbird machine armed with a plasma saw to cut through the platinum. They launched a second attack. The earthbenders brought down an entire building on Kuvira's machine but that barely slowed her down. The airbenders attacked from the air but to no avail.

Lin, watched helpless, as Tenzin was hit and fell to the ground with only Meelo to break his fall. As much as she wanted, she had no time to get to him. She and Suyin made their way inside the machine to take it apart from within. But Kuvira managed to remove the arm and Tenzin looked up just in time to see Lin being thrown into a wall, crashing into a pile of rubble. His heart froze. The machine had crumbled thanks to the metalbenders, but was it too late?

In a final showdown, Korra and Kuvira continued the fight in the spirit vines. All they saw was Kuvira unleash the spirit weapon's energy all around in rage, and then an explosion followed by a blinding light shooting up towards the sky. A giant storm of smoke spread throughout the city. Tenzin rushed his children to hide in the first building they could find. He hadn't seen Lin emerge from the rubble and feared the worst. His heart was racing as he held his children, shielding them from the explosion.

When the dust and smoke settled, they stepped out cautiously. The sight before them took his breath away. A new spirit portal. In the middle of the city. It was surreal. Everyone converged at the spot, looking for Korra. Tenzin looked around frantically but Lin was nowhere.

The search seemed to be in vain. But suddenly, Korra stepped out of the portal, with an injured Kuvira leaning against her. At the same moment, Jinora tugged on his arm, pointing in the distance. It was Lin. He looked down at Jinora with a grateful smile and she nodded in understanding. Lin approached them and gave them a feeble smile. She did not look good. To everyone's surprise, Kuvira surrendered. The war was over. Lin walked over and handcuffed the subdued woman. She was going to pay for _all_ her actions.

They walked back to what was left of the city. Lin looked back at the portal once more, in awe. She caught Tenzin's gaze and recognized the relief in his eyes. And something more. Something new had erupted, and not just in the city.


End file.
